Ryan Bradley’s Butterfly Effect

Ryan Bradley’s large, intricately composed pastel paintings of attractive female faces are seductive. The delicate paintings are “unfixed,” which means the pastel is left loose. This creates a surface similar to butterfly wings. If you touched the paintings, some would rub off onto your hands. I can’t help but think there is some relationship between the fragility of the surface and the portraits’ beauty. Like the really ripe moment when someone is at the tops of their looks, you know it can’t last, but you can look away either.